West Highland Way goes the extra mile but which one’s the dullest?

On Beinn Dorain

So 30 years after its official opening, the West Highland Way (WHW) is to be extended by a mile at its northern end.

Good plan: it makes a lot of sense to take the thing right into the middle of Fort William and increase the trade opportunities in these straitened times. After all, the WHW starts in the middle of Milngavie, so there will be now a neat symmetry. But the upping of the total mileage from 95 to 96 raises an interesting point. Were the change to be made but the distance retained at 95 miles, which
mid-route mile ought to get the chop?

Which is the dullest mile of the West Highland Way?

Here are five candidates:

Mile 1, Milngavie – Research by moneysupermarket.com has revealed the startling fact that more than half of male drivers aged between 17 and 21 in Milngavie have a speeding conviction. It’s clearly not safe to walk the roads in those parts, so best skip straight to Mugdock woods.

Mile 37, east side of Loch Lomond – Scotland’s most sung-about loch is a lovely thing, for sure, but it is rather long. Given the prospect of 19 miles spent plodding along tracks and paths on its eastern shore, few Fort William-bound walkers would complain were a mile to be chopped out somewhere north of Inversnaid.

Mile 58, beneath Beinn Dorain – There are a couple of deadly dull bits of the WHW on the Crianlarich to Bridge of Orchy stretch: nice enough views, but if you can see the views then surely there is frustration at being confined to the glen rather than romping around on the tops? Mile 58 is particularly trudgesome, with the famous conical view of Beinn Dorain having passed, likewise the interesting-for-trainspotters Auch viaduct. A pint at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel is not far ahead, admittedly, but it’s likely to be served by one of any number of Antipodean bar staff.

Mile 76, Devil’s Staircase – Controversial, but you know it makes sense. Who actually likes the Devil’s Staircase? Hardly anyone, and almost everyone in the Karrimat brigade seems to moan about its sloggy 250-metre climb. The standard direction of travel for the WHW is south–north, so chugging up the Staircase means having one’s back to the stonkingly spectacular stuff at the head of Glen Coe.

Mile 88, west of the Lairigmor – Footsore and underfed, you’ll be wanting the fleshpots of the Fort by now. So why is the damn route taking this massive detour round the Mamores, through various tatty bits of old forestry, when by far the best line is over the Mamore ridge to Glen Nevis direct, using one of the wonderful stalker’s paths that adorn the range?

Mileages taken from the Harvey map of the route.

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